Unrest in the capital
I have many amusing stories to share with you about grasshoppers, goat mongers, and taxi drivers, but that will be at a later time. This is not going to my best writing as I’m trying to be hasty, sorry if it’s not very readable.
Kampala has experienced some unrest over the past few days. On Friday, a student protest at Makerere University turned violent. One student was shot dead by riot police. My colleague saw about 5 people on stretchers not moving, so it is likely that there were additional casualties, although this was not reported in the media. The police here use tear gas at the slightest provocation. My colleague was gassed Friday and his eyes still have not recovered (which is unusual). Yesterday some rioting continued at the campus. Vestiges of the tear gas wafted into my office, making people cough.
But that’s not all. You may know that multiparty politics is a recent phenomenon in Uganda. There is a whole long history here that I will not get into now. The current leader –President Museveni- ousted the old leader via armed uprising in the mid 80s. A new constitution was passed in 1995 and elections were held in 2001. Parties, however, were banned. Everyone had to run under the auspices of Museveni’s National Resistence Movement. At that time, a gentleman by the name of Dr. Kizza Besigye ran against Museveni. There were serious irregularities in the elections, but Museveni won. Besigye fled the country. This was to be Museveni’s last term, but he spearheaded a constitutional amendment to allow him to run for a third term. Are your suspicions piqued yet?
Anyway, Besigye returned in late October. Now that parties are allowed, Besigye heads the Forum for Democratic Change. He has been campaigning all around the country. We have been speculating about if and when he will be arrested at the behest of the current president.
It happened yesterday.
He was returning by car from campaigning in the west when police surrounded him. He has been charged with treason and rape (allegedly from 1997) and remanded to Luzira prison. His supporters immediately surrounded the police station and a riot commenced. Cars were burned, property was destroyed, shops closed. The police used rubber bullets, tear gas (on peaceful protesters, I saw news video of people standing there quietly; it was only after being gassed that things got hectic), and water trucks spraying water from hoses. Luckily, I am friends with a bunch of people from Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) who receive SMS updates whenever something like this happens.
Today Besigye is being remanded for trial at the High Court. The last communication I received indicates that rioting is continuing both in the city centre and at the University and that military police are using live ammunition. VSO volunteers from upcountry have been instructed not to come to Kampala.
Yesterday, I went home as soon as I learned of Besigye’s arrest. I knew there were riots and had no idea where they would spread. My area of town, which is far from the centre, was quiet. The area of town where I work has also been quiet, although it is still near enough to the university for the tear gas to float over here. That being said, my supervisor has suggested leaving early today, so I will be returning home shortly. My compound is very secure and I have everything I need in it in the highly unlikely event that it becomes unsafe to leave. I also have the means to leave the country at a moment’s notice, so no one worry. Also, if you avoid the riot areas Kampala remains as safe as ever. BBC.com has the most up-to-date news, aside from the Ugandan press.
Today's newspapers provided for a bit of amusement:
New Vision (Government daily): High schools are now free (no more fees)
Daily Monitor (Independent daily): BESIGYE JAILED
Government threatens to close Daily Monitor
In other news, I received an email from the Canadian consulate in Uganda today. I know what you're thinking; it was an email warning Canadians in Kampala to avoid the city centre. Wrong. The subject line reads: "CANADA COMMENTS ON U.S. PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS PROPOSAL" (now that's a headline that warrants all caps). It's nice to see that the Canadian foreign service is keeping on top of the issues that matter to me most. I'd gladly stick around to debate the merits of American passport requirements, but I've got to duck out the way of some tear gas.
I have had a suspicious feeling lately. It’s hard to feel upbeat living in a country scheduled for elections this March that has never had regime change without war. I noticed more military police driving around than I did before and had a sinking feeling. But I’ve only been here two months, am I just imagining it? The riots and the death on Friday reinforced that sinking feeling. Despite following the news, there is so much that goes unreported, I really felt like I didn’t have a handle on what’s going on. Considering the history of East Africa, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that things could go wrong. But what’s going to go wrong? Will it be a few isolated pockets of election violence or something worse? I knew things would get dicey coming here in an election year, I just didn’t expect them to get dicey this early on.
I have never experienced any form of insecurity before, so I don’t know if the tight feeling in my stomach is warranted or an overreaction. Similarly, my eyes are itching and watery –is it more tear gas or a psychosomatic reaction to stress?
In any event, I'm trying to pattern my reaction after the reaction of the people of Kampala, many of whom can remember living under regimes that were much, much, much more oppressive than Museveni's. They may be keeping their heads down and avoiding the problem neighbourhoods, but they're still smiling.
Kampala has experienced some unrest over the past few days. On Friday, a student protest at Makerere University turned violent. One student was shot dead by riot police. My colleague saw about 5 people on stretchers not moving, so it is likely that there were additional casualties, although this was not reported in the media. The police here use tear gas at the slightest provocation. My colleague was gassed Friday and his eyes still have not recovered (which is unusual). Yesterday some rioting continued at the campus. Vestiges of the tear gas wafted into my office, making people cough.
But that’s not all. You may know that multiparty politics is a recent phenomenon in Uganda. There is a whole long history here that I will not get into now. The current leader –President Museveni- ousted the old leader via armed uprising in the mid 80s. A new constitution was passed in 1995 and elections were held in 2001. Parties, however, were banned. Everyone had to run under the auspices of Museveni’s National Resistence Movement. At that time, a gentleman by the name of Dr. Kizza Besigye ran against Museveni. There were serious irregularities in the elections, but Museveni won. Besigye fled the country. This was to be Museveni’s last term, but he spearheaded a constitutional amendment to allow him to run for a third term. Are your suspicions piqued yet?
Anyway, Besigye returned in late October. Now that parties are allowed, Besigye heads the Forum for Democratic Change. He has been campaigning all around the country. We have been speculating about if and when he will be arrested at the behest of the current president.
It happened yesterday.
He was returning by car from campaigning in the west when police surrounded him. He has been charged with treason and rape (allegedly from 1997) and remanded to Luzira prison. His supporters immediately surrounded the police station and a riot commenced. Cars were burned, property was destroyed, shops closed. The police used rubber bullets, tear gas (on peaceful protesters, I saw news video of people standing there quietly; it was only after being gassed that things got hectic), and water trucks spraying water from hoses. Luckily, I am friends with a bunch of people from Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) who receive SMS updates whenever something like this happens.
Today Besigye is being remanded for trial at the High Court. The last communication I received indicates that rioting is continuing both in the city centre and at the University and that military police are using live ammunition. VSO volunteers from upcountry have been instructed not to come to Kampala.
Yesterday, I went home as soon as I learned of Besigye’s arrest. I knew there were riots and had no idea where they would spread. My area of town, which is far from the centre, was quiet. The area of town where I work has also been quiet, although it is still near enough to the university for the tear gas to float over here. That being said, my supervisor has suggested leaving early today, so I will be returning home shortly. My compound is very secure and I have everything I need in it in the highly unlikely event that it becomes unsafe to leave. I also have the means to leave the country at a moment’s notice, so no one worry. Also, if you avoid the riot areas Kampala remains as safe as ever. BBC.com has the most up-to-date news, aside from the Ugandan press.
Today's newspapers provided for a bit of amusement:
New Vision (Government daily): High schools are now free (no more fees)
Daily Monitor (Independent daily): BESIGYE JAILED
Government threatens to close Daily Monitor
In other news, I received an email from the Canadian consulate in Uganda today. I know what you're thinking; it was an email warning Canadians in Kampala to avoid the city centre. Wrong. The subject line reads: "CANADA COMMENTS ON U.S. PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS PROPOSAL" (now that's a headline that warrants all caps). It's nice to see that the Canadian foreign service is keeping on top of the issues that matter to me most. I'd gladly stick around to debate the merits of American passport requirements, but I've got to duck out the way of some tear gas.
I have had a suspicious feeling lately. It’s hard to feel upbeat living in a country scheduled for elections this March that has never had regime change without war. I noticed more military police driving around than I did before and had a sinking feeling. But I’ve only been here two months, am I just imagining it? The riots and the death on Friday reinforced that sinking feeling. Despite following the news, there is so much that goes unreported, I really felt like I didn’t have a handle on what’s going on. Considering the history of East Africa, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that things could go wrong. But what’s going to go wrong? Will it be a few isolated pockets of election violence or something worse? I knew things would get dicey coming here in an election year, I just didn’t expect them to get dicey this early on.
I have never experienced any form of insecurity before, so I don’t know if the tight feeling in my stomach is warranted or an overreaction. Similarly, my eyes are itching and watery –is it more tear gas or a psychosomatic reaction to stress?
In any event, I'm trying to pattern my reaction after the reaction of the people of Kampala, many of whom can remember living under regimes that were much, much, much more oppressive than Museveni's. They may be keeping their heads down and avoiding the problem neighbourhoods, but they're still smiling.
posted by Cara at 3:34 AM
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